Republican members of the House Oversight Committee questioning Michael Cohen appear to have forgotten that Cohen, Donald Trump’s former personal attorney, has already pleaded guilty to multiple crimes, is going to prison, and has little to lose. During their cross-examinations of Cohen, several Republican lawmakers spent their allotted time enumerating Cohen’s own lies in an attempt to discredit his testimony against the president. (At one point, Rep. Paul Gosarliterally pointed to a poster he had made of Cohen’s face with the caption “Liar, liar, pants on fire.”) But Cohen, surprisingly quick on his feet, frequently turned the questions around. For a confessed liar—“pathological,” one congressman called him—Cohen managed, at times, to make his questioners appear comparatively dishonest.

The contentious series of exchanges reached a climax during the first half of Cohen’s testimony when Representative Jim Jordan, the highest-ranking Republican on the committee, exploded at Cohen about whether he felt any guilt over his crimes.

“If this statement back here doesn’t say it all—’Cohen’s consciousness of wrongdoing is fleeting, his remorse is minimal, his instinct is to blame others is strong,’” Jordan said, gesturing to a blown-up version of the statement from the Southern District of New York, displayed on a sandwich board. “There’s only one thing wrong with that statement: his remorse is nonexistent! He just debated a member of Congress saying that I really did not do anything wrong with the false bank thing that I’m guilty of and what I’m going to prison for!”

“Mr. Jordan, that’s not what I said, and you know that’s not what I said,” Cohen shot back. “I said I pled guilty and I take responsibility for my actions.” As Jordan tried to talk over him, Cohen seemed to snap. “Shame on you, Mr. Jordan. That is not what I said. Shame on you.” He continued:

What I said is, I took responsibility and I take responsibility. What I was doing is explaining to the gentleman that his facts are inaccurate. I take responsibility for my mistakes. I am remorseful. And I am going to prison. I will be away from my wife and family for years. So before you turn around and cast more dispersion, please understand: there are people watching you today that know me a whole lot better. I made mistakes. I own them. I didn’t fight with the Southern District of New York. I didn’t put the system through an entire scenario. But what I did do is, I pled guilty, and I will be going to prison.

Cohen’s nimble rejoinders appeared to take other members of Congress off guard. “You called Trump a cheat; what would you call yourself?” Republican James Comer asked Cohen, to which he replied, “A fool.” Comer paused before saying, “O.K., well, no comment on that.” When Rep. Mark Meadows brought out Lynne Patton, a Trump campaign staffer who is now a top official at HUD, to refute Cohen’s testimony that Donald Trump is a racist, Cohen appeared unfazed, telling Meadows to ask Patton how many black people work at the Trump Organization. “The answer is zero,” Cohen said.

Cohen turned the tables again when Rep. Paul Gosar accused him of being a “pathological liar.” “Sir, I’m sorry,” Cohen replied, “are you referring to me or the president?”

At other times, Cohen flatly accused Republican lawmakers of resorting to smear attacks to protect the president. “It’s that sort of behavior that I’m responsible for,” he added. “I’m responsible for your silliness because I did the same thing that you’re doing now, for 10 years. I protected Mr. Trump for 10 years . . . The more people who follow Mr. Trump, as I did blindly, are going to suffer the same consequences that I’m suffering.”

After another contentious exchange with Congressman Jordan, Cohen offered up a short monologue ripping Republican members of the Oversight committee for their own blind loyalty toward Donald Trump:

I just find it interesting, sir, that between yourself and your colleagues, that not one question so far since I’m here has been asked about President Trump. That’s actually why I thought I was coming today. Not to confess the mistakes that I’ve made. I’ve already done that. And I’ll do it again every time you ask me about taxes or mistakes. Yes I’ve made my mistakes, I’ll say it now again. And I’m going to pay the ultimate price. But I’m not here today, the American people don’t care about my taxes. They want to know what I know about Mr. Trump. And not one question so far has been asked about Mr. Trump.